📢 Microsoft Introduces Windows 11 Build 23511 to the Dev Channel

What's new and improved in Windows 11 Build 23511?

Enhanced Windows Spotlight Experience

One of the highlights of Windows 11 Build 23511 includes enhancements to the Windows Spotlight, designed to offer a richer user experience. Following extensive trials, Microsoft has rolled out a single Windows Spotlight experience for Windows Insiders that includes full-screen image previews, multiple opportunities to learn about each image, and a minimized experience.

Users can access this feature by right-clicking on the Spotlight icon on their desktop or double-clicking the icon to launch a Bing landing page for more information about each image. The new Spotlight theme can be enabled by right-clicking on the desktop, selecting "Personalize", and choosing the new Spotlight theme under Settings > Personalization > Background.

Updates and Improvements

There are several significant updates and improvements in this latest build. For instance, a pop-up dialog will now appear when a camera streaming issue is detected. This dialog will provide a recommendation to launch the automated Get Help troubleshooter to resolve the issue.

In a temporary change, the Windows Copilot Preview is not available for Dev Channel Windows Insiders who log in and are managed by AAD (soon to be Microsoft Entra ID). However, it can be enabled temporarily via a policy in Group Policy Editor and will be defaulted on in a future flight, including support for Bing Chat for Enterprise.

Richer Start Menu Previews

For users logged into Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise editions with an AAD account, a richer preview will now be provided when hovering over files such as Word documents under "Recommended" on the Start menu. This initial release, however, will not offer thumbnails for all files. The full experience will be rolled out in a future update.

In another change, Windows 11 system components under "All apps" in the Start menu will now show a "system" label.

Taskbar and System Tray Changes

The system tray will now display notifications as a bell, which will colorize based on your system accent color when new notifications arrive. When there are no notifications, the bell will be empty. This update does away with the previous notification count.

File Explorer, Snap Layouts, and Settings Tweaks

There are also improvements to File Explorer, Snap Layouts, and Settings in this build. Changes have been made to enhance the performance of the "calculating" phase when sending a large number of files at once to the recycle bin.

In the Snap Layouts, Microsoft has addressed bugs causing crashes and turned off suggestions. Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel can start seeing these improvements rolling out again.

Lastly, a bug that caused some instability in the new Settings homepage has been fixed, and the new homepage has started rolling out again. An option has also been introduced to disable Phone Link altogether under Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Phone Link in Windows 11.

As always, Microsoft appreciates the feedback from Windows Insiders and encourages them to report any issues through the Feedback Hub under Desktop Environment > Windows Spotlight.

This latest build showcases Microsoft's continuing commitment to improving the Windows 11 experience based on user feedback and technological advancements. The company's proactive approach to squashing bugs and enhancing features is a clear indication of its dedication to delivering an efficient, user-friendly operating system.